Well, I survived the editing stage with the publisher! It was definitely a grueling process, especially having to work full-time at my day job and editing at night and on the weekend. There were two rounds of edits for me and three rounds for the editor.

Here's how the process progressed. I received an email in July from the editor, introducing herself. She also stated that I would be receiving her edits in August. They came in right on time, but I had only ten days to return my edits - yikes! She did say, however, that I could extend the time if there was a reason such as travel. I figured I'd go for it though, so I spent 20 hours primarily over the weekend and finished the edits up during the week. There were numerous edits within the text which I painstakingly accepted or denied (there were only a couple denied and I provided the reason). There were also several general comments on certain sections the editor thought I should take a second look at for consistency, believability or strengthening. The comments were excellent and I made the changes to reflect these in the text. One of her comments in the text stated that she loved a scene because it reminded her of The Walking Dead! I hope others feel that way! It wasn't my intention when I wrote it, but once she mentioned it, I could see the similarities. So, I added another scene later on to accentuate it more.

I made the ten day deadline and sent her back my edits. About five days later, I received the second round of edits. There were several, but much less than the initial round. I was still noticing errors in the text, however, so I spent another 24 hours re-reading the text twice and sent back these edits ten days later. About three days later, I received the final version with a note that no further changes could be met at this time. The text was sent over for typesetting and I would have another opportunity to make minor changes. In the meantime, I prepared the publisher's author information form which includes general information, book blurb, excerpt, and various information for the cover artist. I also had a photo shoot with a professional photographer for my author picture. It was hard to choose, but here it is:

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I'll use this photo and several others for marketing purposes in the future. From what I understand, spending money on professional photos is worth the cost. This photo was taken by Jaimi Weatherspoon at Essentia~Special Moments Photography.

Next, I should hear from the publisher in about a month or so about the typesetting and book cover. I found out that my publisher, Damnation Books, was bought out by Spero Publishing, though. So, I'm not sure if this will affect any timelines yet. From what I've read so far, Damnation Books, Eternal Press and Spero Publishing will be consolidated into Caliburn Press, but I'll have to wait to hear from the new publisher to confirm. It came without warning, so I was a bit surprised to say the least. Hopefully, the transition will be smooth and I'll know the release date by the end of the year. We'll see.

While I wait, I'll continue to look for any nagging, leftover spelling errors in the text so I'm ready for typesetting and finalization. I'll also start taking videos and photos along the Gulf Coast here in Florida and areas where my story is based, so I can use them in the next step -- the book trailer. I'll leave that to another blog!

Book Trailer

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Sandie Will is an author who has a new YA psychological thriller - The Caging at Deadwater Manor. She is an avid blogger on this website as well as her science blog. She can be found on Twitter as @SandieWillBooks and @RockHeadScience, as well as her Facebook page at Sandie Will, Author.

"Enthusiasm with a scientist's rigor and a dollop of fun." --Rachel Stirling @Stirlingwriter